Tim Kasher at The Waiting Room, Oct. 5, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

So how was Tim Kasher Saturday night at The Waiting Room?

Pretty damn good, thanks for asking. Kasher’s set  drew from both solo albums, plus The Good Life and Cursive catalogs. Though backed by a ripping band that included sassy bassist Sara Bertuldo and musical genius/multi-instrumentalist Patrick Newbery (I’m not sure who was on drums, but he was awesome), the set’s tone was low-key and downright mellow.

For example, Kasher’s cover of “From the Hips” (off Cursive album Mama, I’m Swollen) took the usually rousing, bombastic rocker and re-imagined it as a quiet lullaby. In fact, there were a lot of quiet moments throughout most of the set, and maybe that was driven by the chatty crowd, who Kasher acknowledged when he sat down at a keyboard to play a solo version of a Good Life song that “none of you know.” Unfortunately, he eventually talked himself out of it, and his band instead returned to the stage to resume the usual setlist. While there  were a lot of new arrangements for older material, the tunes off Adult Film got the same treatment heard on the album.

The evening’s bright spots came during the encore, when Kasher and Co. lit into a spot-on cover of The Faint’s “Worked Up So Sexual” that got a few folks in the 200+ crowd jumping. The energy stayed for the evening’s closer, “Totally Freaking Out,” from the new album.

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Here’s some guidance for the coming week….

Pageturner’s has Colleen Lynch and Grape Soda tonight. It’s free and starts at 10 p.m.

Killer Blow headlines at O’Leaver’s Tuesday with Peach Kelli Pop and S. Pratt and the Sweats. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Saturn Moth plays at Slowdown Jr., Thursday night with Manic Pixie Dream Girls and Hussies. $5, 9 p.m.

Man Man closes out the week at Slowdown’s big room Friday night with Xenia Rubinos. $15, 9 p.m.

And Crystal Stilts plays at O’Leaver’s Friday night with Pleasure Adapter and Zachary Cole.

Actually a pretty busy week of shows…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.